Rangers manager Ally McCoist wants warfare to cease

Rangers manager Ally McCoist hopes - but does not necessarily expect - that
the internecine warfare at Ibrox will cease following the club’s annual
meeting, which appears to have been scheduled to take place in six weeks’
time.

Give chance a chance: Ally McCoist wants everyone at Rangers to be focusing on their League One formPhoto: PA

The 50-year-old has grown weary of the warring factions battling to gain control in the boardroom, with directors, shareholders and spin doctors conducting a war of words in the media.

McCoist has a match to prepare for Tuesday night, taking his Rangers players to Dumfries to face holders Queen of the South in the quarter-finals of the Ramsdens Cup, a competition which would not have been on his radar only two years ago.

Yet that tie is of minor significance compared to the outcome of the annual meeting, where the arrivistes on the board will attempt to thwart a coup launched by shareholders Paul Murray and Jim McColl.

There will be blood-letting but it remains to be seen whether or not the current imbroglio can be clarified and resolved. That would certainly be McCoist’s preference.

“I hope so,” he said, when asked if the shareholders’ votes might end the in-fighting.

“I don’t want to get involved in that and it’s not my job. I would be very, very hopeful that, come the AGM, we get a clean bill of health, we get a tick, and everybody can move forward.

“That’s the dream and hope of every supporter and, indeed, every member of staff and shareholder.”

McCoist revealed that he deals with the constant bickering by compartmentalising his responsibilities.

“I certainly haven’t become immune to it but I’m becoming more appreciative that there’s not a lot I can do about it,” he said.

“My job is hopefully to get a winning team on the park and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Even so, realising that he is powerless to prevent the power struggle taking place does not mean that he can wash his hands of it.

“I wouldn’t say it’s background noise,” he said. “It’s just something that’s been at the club now for a little while.

“It’s no use my worrying about things I can’t affect. I’m just hopeful that after the AGM, which I think is on Oct 29, we’ll draw a line under it and we can all move on.”

While the civil war rumbles on, McCoist points out that it is the performance of his players (currently five points and 18 goals clear of the rest in League One) which remains his priority.

“I appreciate that the most important thing is the playing side - that’s what the fans, generally speaking, are far more interested in,” he said.

“Obviously, with the other issues, the fans will have their own questions and favourites, but it’s my remit to give them something to smile about on the park.

“That’s what I’ll do my best to give them. I don’t know if I have switched off [from the power struggle]. I don’t know if I can switch off.”

Tuesday night’s tie at Palmerston offers Rangers the chance of redemption against opponents who eliminated them from the competition at the same stage last year, a result which still haunts McCoist.

“I was sick after that game,” he said. “We felt their second goal was clearly offside but, that said, they went on to win on penalties.

“I was gutted, really disappointed. It’s not a feeling that any of us enjoy in the game so, hopefully, I won’t be feeling it tomorrow night.”

Meanwhile Ian Black has apologised to Rangers supporters for betting against his own team.

He acknowledged he is fortunate to still have a career with the Ibrox club following what he described as “a silly bet”.

The midfielder was banned for three matches - with a further seven games suspended until the end of the season – and fined £7,500 by the Scottish Football Association last week for breaching gambling rules.

Black told RangersTV: “I need to apologise to the fans. People are saying that they can’t trust me.

"But people who know me and supporters who watch me every week know that I give 100 per cent every game.

“Even in training, the boys have come out and openly spoke that they can trust me fully. The manager’s backed me and the club’s backed me. There’s a lot of players out there still doing it. I could sit and name players but I’m not going to do it.

“I broke the rule and deserve the punishment; I shouldn’t have done it.”

Black also thanked the club for backing him and giving him a second chance. He said: “You break the rules so you’ve got to be fortunate to keep your job.

“That’s where I’ve got to thank the board and the players and the staff who stood by me and gave me the chance.

“It’s a second chance for a silly bet and it’s up to me to come back stronger and repay them, as well as the supporters.”

Rangers will be without the suspended Black while injured due Lee Wallace and Lewis Macleod are unlikely to be risked on Queens’ artificial surface.